


The Last Survivor

by Overtone



Category: DCU, Green Arrow (Comics), Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, He wants to prove himself, Oliver Queen doubts his place in JLA, Parallel Universes, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Tags May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-30
Updated: 2020-08-14
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:28:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24455941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Overtone/pseuds/Overtone
Summary: The Green Arrow finds a teenager in the middle of the night, with destruction all around him. Who is he, what happened, and how does he know he is Oliver Queen?Not knowing what to do with him, Oliver takes him as his protege. But should he really do that when the kid has a price on his head?DISCONTINUED
Relationships: Dinah Lance/Oliver Queen
Comments: 3
Kudos: 5





	1. The Storm

Oliver Queen woke up in a start when he heard a loud bang outside. It was 1 in the morning, so he had slept at most two hours. What could possibly cause this explosion, here outside the city? He sped to the window and pressed his face against the glass. He looked for any fire or shades moving through the darkness below his bedroom, but he couldn’t see anything.  
Had someone figured out his identity, and targeted him now he was alone? He quickly got in his uniform, grabbed his spare bow, and ran down the stairs. Everything in his house was as it should be. Nothing was missing and no doors were compromised. “Weird. Outside it is then,” he said to himself.  
He unlocked the front door, and it slammed open. Oliver didn’t expect it and slammed against the balusters, trying to hold onto the doorknob. He groaned from the impact, but quickly got on his feet and readied an arrow. “Alright, show yourself,” he demanded, but no one came through the door. The only things that entered were leaves and sand, sailing on a squall.  
He had to put all his effort into standing up straight, until, after a few minutes, the wind had calmed down enough he could walk outside.  
The damage outside was enormous. Trees had been ripped out of the ground, laying on the ground or leaning against the house. Windows were shattered, and roof tiles were reduced to shards on the ground.  
This was unnatural. Someone had to be behind this, Oliver concluded. He pressed his earpiece, seeking contact with the Justice League. “Green Arrow to Watchtower,” he announced himself.  
“Hi darling, couldn’t sleep?” an all too familiar voice answered him.  
“Very funny, Dinah. Could you tell Red Tornado he should not use his powers this much when he is this close to my house?”  
“Red Tornado?” she questioned. “He has been on the Watchtower for the past 24 hours. He hasn’t been anywhere near Star City.”  
“How about Weather Wizard, or other enhanced who can manipulate the weather?”  
“Let’s see… Mark Mardon is still in Iron Heights. What’s going on? Why do you ask?”  
“A sudden storm blew past my house and ravaged it. It was too strong and too short for it to be natural, so I suspect someone was responsible for it. I don’t know who it could be, however.” It remained silent on the other side of the line. “Dinah?”  
“Yeah, one moment. I’m looking at satellite images of the surroundings of your house. Oh my god. Oliver, about 10 miles east to southeast, there is an open place which wasn't there yesterday. There is major wreckage. I'll send some Leaguers to your place."  
“No,” he shouted. “We don’t know what it is. Maybe we should handle this stealthily, rather than sending the big guns. Send me the coordinates, I’m going alone.”  
“Let me at least someone who can be stealthy. Batman. Metamorpho. Atom. Or ask Roy once more for help.”  
“If I need backup, I’ll seek contact with you again. Green Arrow out,” he said as he shut his earpiece off.  
It was a gamble, cutting her off like that. But among all those aliens, metahumans, and items of extraordinary powers, he felt out of place. He was just a guy with a bow and arrow, which Barry was all too happy to point out. He wanted to prove his worth.  
And if there was nothing, at least he wouldn’t embarrass himself in front of the others.  
A buzz in his pocket notified him of a message coming from Dinah. “47.514321, -122.088836. If you die, I will kill you.” Romantic as ever, he grinned. He jumped on his motorcycle and sped to the coordinate he was given.

On his way, he drove past more and more uprooted trees. Branches were parted from their trunks, forming a green carpet on the forest ground. With a mile until his destination, the ground became inaccessible for his motorcycle, so Oliver dismounted and jogged over to the given coordinate. The stars and the moon gave enough light for him to see his footing. Funny, it reminded him of his time on Lian Yu.  
He approached the coordinate Dinah gave him. Most trees that had towered the forest now lay on the ground. A few trees were still standing up and formed a circle around an open field, where holes indicated where trees had been standing.  
He hid behind one at the border, readying an arrow for a fight. He peeked around the trunk, but he couldn’t see anything standing out. There was no alien spaceship that had crashed into the earth, no scorch marks from a bomb. Strange.  
Seeing no other option, he walked huddled onto the field, staying low in case of a gunman waiting for him.  
“Stay back!” he heard a cry coming from the dark. Oliver pulled back the string and looked over the nocked arrow for the source. He initially missed it, but ultimately he saw someone sitting on the ground. The grey and green bodysuit camouflaged the man - he could now distinguish his gender - into the background, as he sat crawled up with his head on his knees and arms wrapped around his legs.  
“Who are you?” the Green Arrow demanded as his ears kept focusing on his surroundings. Every fiber in his muscles screamed it was a trap. But all his ears could hear was sobbing, and it wasn’t coming from himself.  
“Oliver? Is that you?” the man, or rather the boy, asked him with watery eyes.  
What the hell? He was wearing his mask and his hat. He had never met this teenager! Who is he, and how does he know his identity?  
“I’m the Green Arrow, kid,” he tried to fool him, but his voice gave him away immediately. How is Batman doing that?  
“Please, Oliver, don’t fool around,” he begged. “I … I need your help.”  
Oliver looked around a final time and put the arrow back in his quiver. Maybe it was a trap, but his gut told him this kid really needed his help. "Alright, what is going on?" he asked kindly as he knelt down. "Do you know what happened here?"  
"It was me," the teenager answered through the sobbing. "I…" he got out before he burst into tears again.  
"It's okay," Oliver tried to calm him. He never thought he would comfort rather than fight someone tonight. But here he was, kneeling down next to a kid who was dressed as a superhero and trying to stop him crying. "I don't know what happened here, but I can imagine it is something horrible. You don't have to tell me now. The only thing I need you to do is tell me where you live. I will bring you home." It remained silent for a while. "You do have a home, right?" But the kid shook his head.  
Okayy, that didn't go according to plan. What now? He couldn't just take him into his own house. But he looked again at the kid, and he felt pity.  
"Come," he said as he got up, reaching out his hand to help the teenager up. "You can stay tonight at my place. We'll figure everything out tomorrow."  
Hesitantly, he took Oliver's hand, and they walked together to the motorcycle. 

On their way back to Oliver's house, the kid grabbed him tightly as he sat behind the archer on the motorcycle. He was trembling, but it felt like something more than being scared to fall off. Oliver only couldn't put a finger on it.  
When they got home, he showed his guest the guest bedroom, where the kid immediately retreated with a locked door.  
“What did you find?” Dinah asked him in his earpiece before he had the chance to walk away from the door.  
“Are you stalking me, miss Lance?” he teased her.  
“Every earpiece of the JLA is equipped with a personal GPS, you know that _mister Queen_. I saw you went to the location and returned home.”  
“So stalking it is, got it,” he replied jokingly.  
“Did you find anything?” she repeated dead serious.  
“Yeah, but I don’t know what to think of it. I found a kid in the middle of the open field, with tears streaming down his face. No sign of any weapons or other creatures. I took him home so he could calm down and tell me his story tomorrow.”  
“What?” she exclaimed. “You brought him to our house? Why not his own house? Or the Arrowcave?”  
“He said he didn’t have a home, and I couldn’t let him alone. Besides, he knew my identity, Dinah! I wore my suit, hat, and mask, but he recognized me instantly, although I have never seen him. I need to keep him close until we know more.”  
“Do you think he caused the storm?” she asked calmly after a short silence.  
Oliver shrugged his shoulders. “He is connected somehow, seeing how I found him there. But I really don’t know. I’ll ask tomorrow.”  
“Alright, Bruce and I will be there too. Please stay safe, Oliver. Something feels off here,” she warned him.  
“You know, I could use someone in my bedroom to protect me,” he opted playfully.  
“Alright, I’ll send Etrigan over to guard you,” she answered with the same playfulness.  
Damnit, she’s good. “On another note, I think I’ll manage. See you tomorrow, sweetheart!”  
She laughed at the other side of the line. “Good night, Oliver.”


	2. The Fear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver tries to talk with the kid.

Without the storm bashing against the windows, Oliver slept soundly that night until his alarm went off. As usual, he did his morning routine of push-ups, crunches, sit-ups, and other exercises before heading down for breakfast. He passed the guest room on his way to the kitchen, which reminded him of last night’s events. There was a traumatized kid in his home now. Oliver fiddled the doorknob, but the door was still locked. The kid was presumably still asleep.  
Oliver made a large pot of coffee, and as he took a sip from his first cup, he realized the kid didn't have anything with him, besides the bodysuit he was wearing. He raced through the house and gathered a toothbrush and some clothes for him, which he laid at the door. Now he could at least freshen himself up.  
With the kid still asleep, Oliver started preparing breakfast for the two of them. He was by no definition a good cook, but he could make some eggs. He tried his best, as he didn't want to give the kid another trauma.  
The yolk started to get cooked, so Oliver took two plates, buttered slices of bread and put half the eggs on his plate. It would be half an hour before Bruce and Dinah would be here, so he leaned back and enjoyed his breakfast.  
When he started on his second slice, the door slowly opened, and the kid carefully peeked his head into the kitchen. “Good morning,” Oliver greeted him. He was pleased to see the kid had taken a shower and found the stuff he had laid down at his door. “Come in,” he invited him when he stayed in the door opening, “I made you some eggs and coffee.”  
“Thanks,” he mumbled shyly as he sat down at the kitchen table, looking down at the plate and cup Oliver had put down for him. He took small bites from his bread and sipped at his coffee, but never looked up from his breakfast, Oliver observed.   
“I hope you like it,” Oliver tried to start the conversation.  
“It’s good, thanks,” he answered softly before he returned to his breakfast. The kid still was shy, or scared, and didn't continue the conversation. Oliver sighed. Dinah was much better at this than him. He was almost glad she came over, but did she really have to bring Bruce and thereby the Justice League into this? The two of them were capable of handling this!  
He tried once more to initiate conversation. “We haven't introduced ourselves properly last night. My name is Oliver Queen, and as you noticed yesterday, I am the vigilante known as Green Arrow."  
"I, I, I am … I'm Anil. Anil Westermann ...," the kid, whom Oliver now could call by name, answered. It sounded like he was going to say more, but Anil remained silent.  
Well, it's something, Oliver thought optimistically. "Listen, Anil, I will have two friends over today. They are helping you getting back on track, and helping to figure out what happened yesterday. They will be here in any minute." And as if on cue, the doorbell rang, announcing the arrival of Dinah and Bruce.

Anil moved over to the living room as Oliver opened the door for his two colleagues. He shook hands with Bruce and gave Dinah a kiss. “I can’t believe the damage that is done to the house. Are you sure you’re alright?” she asked him.  
“I’m fine, Dinah, I’m fine,” he assured her. “I only got a bruise when I tried to open the door in the storm.”  
“Where is the kid?” Bruce asked, not caring at all how bad Oliver was hurt.  
“He’s in the living room,” Oliver explained. “His name is Anil Westermann, he just told me at the kitchen table. He is timorous, he cried when I found him yesterday, and it looked like he could burst out in tears anytime during breakfast. And it wasn’t because of my cooking!” he added quickly for Dinah.  
“I understand, Oliver. We’re not here to joke around,” Dinah said. “Now let’s talk to your guest.”  
They entered the living room, where Dinah and Bruce introduced themselves to Anil, who tried to hide in the corner of the couch. The boy looked at the two with big eyes and shook their hand weakly as he mumbled his name. Dinah took a seat opposite him, and Bruce and Oliver sat down at either side of them. “So, Anil, I heard Oliver found you last evening,” Dinah started. “He said you were scared. Is that right?”  
The kid nodded, but he didn't speak.   
"Can you tell us what made you afraid?" she continued, but Anil didn't speak. He tried, but all that happened was tears rolling down his face and shaking his head. Oliver felt pity for him.   
"It's okay if it hurts too much to talk about it right now, Anil. But the best way to cope with your situation is to let someone in. I'm a trained therapist. I am qualified to help you through this. Would you like to talk about it with me alone?" Dinah soothed.  
"Dinah!" Oliver intervened in disbelief. "You can't be serious. We're here with the three of us. You can't put us aside like this!"  
"Like you did yesterday to the Justice League? I can handle myself, Oliver," she parried before turning again to the kid. "My offer stands. Do you prefer continuing this conversation privately?"  
The kid nodded. "Please, White Canary. I… I…. Without Owlman, please," he said as he looked over to Bruce.  
Oliver and Bruce looked at each other, raising an eyebrow after hearing Anil's words. White Canary? Owlman?  
"Oliver, Bruce? Give us the room please," she requested. Bruce nodded and got out of his chair without objection. Oliver, realizing he couldn't convince both his teammates, followed the caped crusader to the kitchen, closing the door behind him.

"Well, that was a lot of information," Oliver commented sarcastically as he poured two cups of coffee. “I hope Dinah knows what she’s doing.”  
“He has a case of PTSD, probably caused by one of his actions which resulted in the death of our counterparts on a different earth,” Bruce concluded.  
Oliver almost dropped their drinks. “You deduced that from the, what, two sentences he spoke?!”  
“Not just the words, but the way he behaved as well. I’ve seen it before in myself when I was younger, when my parents were shot before my eyes. And I once fought a different version of myself called Owlman. It’s not that hard if you know the details,” the world’s greatest detective said casually. “He didn’t call you differently?”  
“No,” Oliver said, thinking back to the previous night. “He only said ‘please don’t fool around’ when I tried to convince him I wasn’t Oliver but the Green Arrow.”  
“Did he say that because you tried to convince him, or because of the name you told him?” Bruce remarked.   
Good point. “But wait, does that mean I have a doppelganger too? How was he?”  
“That’s not the point here,” Bruce stated coldly. “The only thing important is that the alternate versions of heroes here were villains there and vice versa. So if he worked with Owlman and White Canary, I don’t know about his intentions here.”  
“Come on, Bruce. He is just a kid,” Oliver protested with spread arms. “If he wanted me dead, he would have done it by now.”  
“Clearly he is an enhanced individual, and we don’t know why he is here. Maybe his scheme is bigger than taking the three of us out. So if he means to destroy or conquer this planet, we have to take him out the moment we know. If there is one person from another earth, there could be more, and you know it too.”  
"And then we ignore the fact he has PTSD?" Oliver couldn't believe his ears. "We should at least give him a chance!"  
"What if he is a speedster like the Flash, and could hit the earth so fast he can exterminate all life in one punch? Would you want him to recover, such that he could conquer the planet?" Bruce asked. "You need to keep an eye on him, and I will look after this Earth's Anil Westermann in case this visitor wants to take his place. And if you get the slightest hint his intentions are malicious, you take him out," he ordered. Geez, that man was xenophobic. Oliver wondered why Bruce had never gotten toe to toe with Superman.  
Before he could think of any comeback, the door to the living room clicked open and Dinah walked through. "Gentlemen, could you come inside? Our guest is ready to tell what happened to him.”


	3. The Breacher

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver learns about the kid's past, in more ways than one.

Anil started with confirming Bruce’s suspicions. He explained he was from a parallel earth, which was very similar to the earth he was on now.  
“How similar are this earth and yours?” Oliver asked. He was genuinely curious but also wanted to ease the kid up by showing interest. Dinah got him to talk full sentences!  
“First, I didn’t notice I was on a different earth. I was letting everything out, until I realized I wasn't in Africa anymore. I scanned the surroundings and … and...” Anil broke down again, and Oliver realized he had jinxed it.  
“Why don’t you tell us a bit more about yourself, Anil?” Dinah suggested, putting a hand on his knee. “You mentioned you had powers. What powers do you have? And did you know others with powers?”  
The kid took a deep breath before he answered her questions. “I’m an aerokinetic. I can control air, from small gusts to large storms. I gained it from a mystical bo staff that has small blades concealed at each end. But I don’t have it anymore,” he said with an unknown self-confidence.  
“Your powers or your weapon?” Bruce interrogated.  
“My weapon, but with that a large portion of my powers. It’s okay, I don’t want to use them anymore. There isn’t anyone anymore I can help with them.”  
Oliver and Dinah looked at each other in shock, realizing what those words meant. Bruce pierced his eyes and grabbed a batarang from under his belt, hiding it behind his back, but ready to throw. “What happened last evening before Oliver found you?”  
“I was fighting with the rest of the Justice Team an alien named Darkseid. He came to destroy the earth; I don’t know why. All I know is that the entire Team was called to defend the planet. It … it looked really bad. Our heavy hitters had fallen against him, and heroes with lesser powers had fallen against his parademons. Your counterparts on my earth were among the fallen, so … to see you alive and well...  
I was the last one standing of the Team. I was desperate. I called on every bit of my powers and … I stopped the atmosphere. I stopped it to create a wind of roughly a thousand miles per hour at the equator. I let myself be carried away with the wind, it wouldn’t hurt me. But it did hurt the rest of the world. When I let things go back to normal… I scanned my near surroundings. I checked the continent. I checked the whole planet! But no single soul breathed anymore.  
I killed all seven billion people in my effort to save them.   
Owlman, my earth’s Bruce Wayne, always thought I was dangerous, and I never believed him. But he was right all along.”  
The room remained silent for a while, as the three Leaguers let the story sink in. They were sitting in the same room as the kid who accidentally killed off his entire planet.  
“How are you feeling about this?” Dinah asked compassionately, slipping back into her therapeutic role.  
“How I’m feeling about this?” the boy asked with tears welling up in his eyes. “I’ve killed my ENTIRE planet! I should have gone with them.”  
“But you didn’t,” Dinah stated. “Anil, do you think the outcome would be different if Darkseid had won? Do you think anyone would be left alive?”  
“I guess not…” he answered hesitantly.  
“You did everything you could to prevent that. I want you to remember that. You could have run from Darkseid, but instead, you fought. Your intentions were right. The fact that you’re grieving right now proves the point that you have your heart at the right place.  
You're dealing with survivor’s guilt, which is totally understandable. But you need to get your life back on track, and we want to help you."  
"You can stay here in our home," Oliver offered. "We can arrange a new identity, and you can start a civilian life. And if at some point you're ready, we can consider letting you join us, the Justice League."  
"Thank you," the kid said softly. A small smile appeared on his face as a weight was lifted from his shoulders, ever so slightly. “I will try to forget what happened.”  
“Don’t,” Bruce ordered. “You should never forget it. If you do, you can destroy another planet, willingly or unwillingly. You need to reconcile with your past. You need to forgive yourself in order to move forward.” As he finished his threat, his hand moved to his ear. “Batman to Oracle. Mm-hmm. I’ll tell the League.”  
“What’s going on?” Oliver asked.  
“Put the television on channel 5. Something's going on at city hall,” Bruce answered.

The tv showed the top of Star City’s city hall, filmed from a helicopter. Police surrounded the building with guns aimed at the roof, where a Latino man stood tall. He wore a black bodysuit with blue accents, which was all too reminiscent of the disco-era.   
The image moved to a camera crew on the ground. A female reporter tried to explain what was happening, but it was evident she had no clue who was on the roof.  
Suddenly, the background behind the reporter changed, now showing the sky behind the city hall. She was pushed away and the man grabbed her microphone, appearing into view.   
"Citizens of this earth," he spoke theatrically, "I have an important announcement to make. Yesterday, a murderer escaped from my dimension to yours. He killed a lot of people, and it is my duty to take him out.  
I don't know where he is, so I need the help of your authorities. Police, superheroes, everyone who is able to help. I want him to be delivered here, before Star City's city hall.  
Every day that passes in which I don't have him, I will release a supervillain from your prisons. A foot behind the door if you will. And for the skeptics in the world…" he extended his arm to the ground below with his palm outwards. The camera shifted and registered a blue portal opening on the ground. Police aimed their guns at the rift as a man moved through it. Cops fired, but bullets ricocheted from the man's stone skin.  
"This is the man I’m searching for," the Latino man said, showing a picture of the boy Oliver found last evening. “You have till noon tomorrow.” The reporter took the picture and the man left through another portal.  
"Oh kid," Oliver exclaimed, "what have you gotten yourself into?”  
He looked over to the kid and realized he spoke without considering how Anil would react. Badly, it seemed. Anil was pale as death and kept staring with wide eyes at the screen, now showing a reporter in the studio.  
“Anil? Do you know him?” Dinah asked compassionately.   
It was good she was the one asking questions. Oliver had shown multiple times he was too blunt, and Bruce was … Bruce. But even though she was the best in the room, Dinah couldn’t get him to answer.  
“The Justice League needs to get out there,” Bruce stated. “We don’t know yet how to trace that man, but we have to stop Brick before he gets away.”  
“Dinah and I have spare equipment for ourselves here, so we can go. How about you?” Oliver suggested, switching easily to his vigilante mindset.  
“I don’t have my uniform with me. I’ll coordinate it from here and call for backup if you need it. Go!”

Oliver and Dinah quickly changed and hopped on Oliver’s motorcycle. “You have a collar?” she shouted over the wind as they rode to the center.  
“Under the seat,” Oliver screamed back. Every Leaguer was allowed to have one metahuman dampening collar with them. It was the only way they could contain them in prisons. Without the devices, there wouldn’t be many detention centers left.  
As they arrived at the city hall, they saw the civilians had left the place. Not strange with an invulnerable crimelord roaming around. Blue lights still shone from the police cars, but the officers laid on the ground and didn’t move. Oliver hoped they were just unconscious, but he doubted there weren’t be any casualties. But there was another problem.  
“Where is Brick?” he asked no one in particular.  
“I’ve sent him off. Couldn’t have him kill everyone here, do we?” they heard behind them. Dinah and Oliver quickly turned around and saw the Latino standing behind them. He had his arm crossed, with no intention to fight, as the blue portal closed behind him. “Green Arrow and Black Canary from the Justice League,” he greeted them, tasting their names on his tongue. “Awful naming, if I may say so. But alas, every universe has its quirks.”  
“Who are you?” the Green Arrow demanded as he aimed an arrow at their adversary.  
“The name is Pilgrim. Have you seen my fifteen minutes of fame on tv today? I hate it when I have to repeat myself.”  
“What do you want?” Oliver continued in the same angry tone.  
“So that’s a no. Unfortunately. I’m from a different universe, and a murderer from mine has sought refuge on your planet. I’m here to neutralize him, and you’re going to help me. You and your group.”  
“Anil Westermann, yeah, we’ve met him,” Oliver gave in, to the annoyance of Dinah.  
“Then you know what he has done.”  
“He did something horrible, but he did it on accident,” Dinah answered, taking the conversation over from Oliver. “He is young and needs support, not an executioner hunting him down.”  
“He needs to face justice, and I’m the only one who can make him do that,” the Pilgrim stated coldly.  
“Then you have to go through us. We won’t let you kill a child,” Dinah stated.  
“We’ll see about that. Noon, tomorrow,” the Pilgrim smirked before walking towards a newly formed portal. “Otherwise a crimelord will be the least of your worries.”


	4. The Recovery

Oliver was restless as he rode back with Dinah to their house. The man they confronted had escaped when he had made his demand, as they were both startled by the revelations the Pilgrim had made. In an attempt to immobilize him, Oliver had fired an arrow at the Latino, but as the portal closed, it spitted the projectile back out.  
“Don’t worry, we know at least what’s going on,” Dinah comforted him, but Oliver just huffed. They were together long enough for Dinah to know that the Pilgrim’s escape was making him agitated. Moreover, he couldn’t understand why the man wanted to kill the traumatized kid. One should be relieved when they find out someone of their team has survived, right? He knew he was when he learned the original Roy was still alive. Then why wasn’t the Pilgrim?  
Maybe Anil could tell them something about this breacher if he wasn’t shocked anymore. Oliver however feared the worst.  
But as he entered the living room with Dinah, they saw their guest chatting with Bruce. There was no trace of angst in the room. “Is everything alright now, kid?” Oliver asked as he detached the quiver from his back.  
He nodded. “Bruce helped me coming to terms with what I saw on television. It was a shock to see ... someone from my dimension here, but … I think I can handle it. With your support at least.”  
“How did it go at the city hall?” Bruce asked.  
“Brick was nowhere to be found, but we were able to speak with the Pilgrim, the one from tv. We only didn’t get anything new information out of him, other than he goes on until he gets you,” Oliver summarised, gesturing at Anil.  
Bruce simply nodded. “So every day he releases another one of our adversaries until we finally give in. Now it was just Daniel Brickwell, but what if it is a Justice League level threat?”  
“Indeed, and we have no idea how to trace him or how to predict who he will set free next,” Oliver said frustratedly. “Why does he even go after you? You have left the dimension, so you’re out of the Pilgrims jurisdiction.”  
“Maybe he wants revenge, or he wants to make sure Anil doesn’t … repeat the accident,” Dinah opted, carefully choosing her wording.  
“Don’t worry, he won’t,” Oliver and Bruce said together. Wait, Bruce agreed with him on that? “Why are you convinced now?” Oliver questioned the usually paranoid Bruce.  
“I’ve talked with him while you two went to Star City. From his microexpressions, I know he spoke the truth. Anil won’t destroy earth on purpose.” Of course, Bruce knows.  
“So, what are we going to do now?” Anil asked shyly. “You trust me, but I can’t just take over my doppelganger’s life. People will be asking questions.”  
“We’ll figure it out, hopefully within a week. At least until then, you can live with us. And after that, we’ll see what you want. But don’t worry about that,” Oliver assured Anil.  
“I’ll go to the watchtower, see if we can trace this Pilgrim,” Bruce said.  
“Wait, so you’re not watching this earth’s Anil Westermann?”  
“We don’t have to be afraid he will be replaced by his doubleganger, so I don’t see why I should,” he stated, to which Oliver could only agree.  
“I’ll go to bed,” Dinah yawned, coming back from her night shift. “Why don’t you show Anil the Arrow cave, Oliver? Maybe work out a bit with him?”

Anil reacted enthusiastically to Dinah’s invite to visit Green Arrow’s hideout, so Oliver had no choice but to show him. He didn’t mind, however, if it meant helping the kid escape his trauma.  
Oliver changed back into his civilian clothes and then rode on his motorcycle to his bunker, with Anil sitting behind him. The boy grabbed him to not fall off the vehicle, but not as tightly as last night. The conversation the four of them had this morning had done wonders. He just needed to keep an eye on him a little bit longer until the kid was strong enough to be on his own.   
When they arrived at his hideout, the kid couldn't hide his eagerness anymore. He ran over to the door and fiddled at the knob. Locked of course. Oliver didn't take any risks with his hideout and had secured it with the best security system he could get his hands on. It required a password with voice recognition, a twelve-digit access code, and two physical keys. When there was an attempt to destroy the door, steel bars would reinforce it for twenty-four hours. No, no-one would get in without Oliver knowing it.  
He unlocked the door and swung it open. “After you,” he gestured to Anil. The kid didn’t let Oliver say it twice and stormed down the stairs, only to search the wall for the light switch. Oliver followed calmly and flipped the switch for the kid. When the lights were on, Anil watched the bunker with wide eyes.   
“You like what you see?” Oliver asked with a smile on his face.  
“Absolutely,” Anil answered as he trailed off to the display of arrows. “You really have this for yourself?”  
“For myself, but Black Canary uses it too from time to time. But yeah, this isn’t some location the whole Justice League can use.”  
“What are those arrows?” Anil fired another question at Oliver, who had to laugh at the boy’s enthusiasm.  
“Trick arrows, when regular arrows are not good enough,” he explained. “When I want to take opponents out without harming them, or when I have to escape.”  
“What can they do?”  
“Well, I have a boxing glove arrow, where the arrowhead will transform into a boxing glove to knock out a single person. When I want to knock out more, I can use a Sleeping Gas arrow. Then I have an explosive arrow, tracker arrow, net arrow, …. You name it, and I probably have made it.”  
The kid bit his lip as he thought about Oliver’s suggestion. “Do you have a portal arrow?” he suggested slowly.  
Oliver had to disappoint him. “Sorry kid, but my engineering knowledge only goes so far. Before today, I didn't even know there were multiple earths." He paused for a moment to understand the true meaning of Anil's question. "Do you wanna go back?" he asked sincerely.  
Anil shook his shoulders. "I don't know, maybe? Not now, at least, but maybe in the future. It's still my home planet, even though I destroyed it."  
Oliver nodded understandingly. "There are a lot of geniuses in the League. Perhaps they could help you figure something out but until then… I'm afraid you have to stay in this dimension."  
"Oh, okay," the kid said slightly disappointedly. “Well, there isn’t much left for me to go back to, right?” he said sheepishly.   
“There is always something to go back to,” Oliver objected calmly. “I know your planet is destroyed, but the memories you have are intact. And those memories are worth a lot. They define who you are.   
Look, I was once stranded on an island in the North-Chinese sea. The whole year, it was cold as ice. It was a literal purgatory. But I trained myself there with a bow and arrow, and I learned the cause of how I got there. My career as the Green Arrow started there. Now, when I feel myself becoming detached from my mission, I go back to my roots, back to Purgatory. And I come back to Star City a better man.”  
“You think this applies to me too?” Anil asked as his guilt took over his thoughts.  
“It’s very well possible,” Oliver said as he looked at the boy’s expression. Anil stayed silent as he thought about what he just said, something Oliver didn’t want him to do. If he worried too much, he could return to his panic attack. He needed the kid to clear his mind, and he had just the right idea. “Would you like to see the gym?”

Oliver and Anil worked out on the numerous fitness apparatus shattered around the bunker. They were pushing each other to lift heavier weights, and though Oliver considered himself to be at peak human condition, Anil didn’t perform much worse than him. He even wanted to try the salmon ladder after they were done.   
Oliver laughed again at his enthusiasm. “You sure you don’t wanna rest?” he asked, to which the kid dismissively shook his shoulders. “Sure, go ahead,” Oliver encouraged him. It gave him some time to work on his quivers, and something little he wanted to prepare.  
 _Klang_ it sounded as Anil moved up the ladder. Oliver looked up for a moment and then took a spare quiver. _Klang._ He took the tracer arrow, a taser arrow, a boxing glove arrow, and a muscle relaxant arrow, and put them in the quiver. These would help him follow and immobilize the Pilgrim. _Klang._ He then took twenty arrows and filled the quiver.   
_Klang._ Next, Oliver moved to his computer, took an earpiece from the desk drawer, and connected it to the computer. _Klang._ He wanted to stay in contact with the boy, should he need help. Furthermore, Oliver hoped he would eventually become a vigilante again, so this was a subtle introduction.  
While he programmed the earpiece so it would make contact with his, he heard the rhythmical sound of the metal bar climbing up and down the ladder. When he was just about ready, he heard another sound. _Klangklang._ Oliver looked up quickly and saw Anil falling from the ladder, the bar still lying diagonally above. He rushed over, though he knew he wouldn’t be able to catch him. But when he got over to the kid, he hovered a few inches above the ground. The grains of sand blew away from under him.  
“You’re using your powers!” Oliver exclaimed, but it wasn’t something to be happy about. The kid panted in panic as tears welled up in his eyes. He was frozen in the air, as his muscles locked his body. “Help,” his lips said soundlessly.


	5. The Abductee

Oliver tried to push the petrified kid down to the ground, through the air bubble Anil had created to catch his fall. But as soon as he released his pressure on Anil, he floated back up.  
Oliver tried again, now using his voice too to calm him down. "It's okay. There is nothing to be afraid of. You haven't hurt anyone now." He continued soothing the kid until his muscles loosened up and he could sit on the ground. "That's right, just take it easy. Everything’s okay."  
“I don’t want it,” Anil cried. “I didn’t want to use my powers, but… but…”  
“But you did it in a reflex,” Oliver finished the kid’s sentence. He understood how reflexes could take over one’s body in a dangerous situation to minimize the injuries. It happened to him all the time in the field. Unfortunately, Anil’s reflexes triggered his powers, the ones he killed his planet with.  
“Can you destroy them? Destroy my powers? Or do you have to kill me to do that?”  
“Kid!” Oliver exclaimed in horror, “nobody wants to kill you!”  
“The Pilgrim does.”  
“I’m not the Pilgrim,” Oliver countered, to which Anil didn’t respond. “Alright kid, go sit on the ground with your legs crossed,” he then said as he walked over to a cupboard.  
“Why?”   
Oliver took a candle and a lighter from the cupboard. “I’m going to help you, and to do that, we're going to meditate. I don’t think you really want your powers gone. You just have to reconnect with the possibilities of your powers."   
He sat down opposite of Anil and crossed his legs as an example. He lit the candle, and the flame danced on the fuse, emitting a calming lavender smell into the bunker.  
"Close your eyes, and focus on your breathing," Oliver started, following his own directions. "Breathe in through your nose … hold it … and release through your mouth. Breathe in through your nose … hold it … and release through your mouth. Continue breathing, as your muscles relax their tension. Into your nose, and out through your mouth. That's right," he encouraged as he heard Anil breathing in a steady tempo.   
"How are you feeling now?"  
"Relaxed," the kid said softly.   
“Good,” Oliver commented, “keep breathing regularly, as you let your thoughts drift. Let them drift towards the first time you used your powers. Can you describe what happened?” He opened his eyes, and a smile appeared on Anil’s face.  
“It was at school. A friend of mine was bullied, and I pushed the bully away. I didn’t know that I would use my powers, send him flying through the halls.”  
“And how did the others react?”  
“First, they didn’t know what happened. They were shocked, like me. But after a few seconds, they started to clap.”  
“Was that bully oppressing more people?”  
“Definitely, yeah.”  
“So you helped your fellow students. Can you give another example of when people cheered because you used your powers?”  
“It would be when I fought the Elemandroids with my team. I contained the Blue Tornado’s aerokinesis, as my teammates took him out.”  
They were interrupted by an alarm going off, and Anil opened his eyes. Something was happening in the city, and Green Arrow’s help was needed. But first, Oliver wanted to finish his meditation session with Anil. “How do you feel?”  
“Good, thanks,” the kid replied thankfully. “I needed the reconnection with my past. Maybe my powers aren’t a bad thing after all.”  
“Precisely. You may not realize it, but you can do a lot of good things in a few years.”  
“Although I don’t know if I want to do it in the future,” Anil said, scratching the back of his head.  
“And that is perfectly fine,” Oliver supported. “Though maybe it is a good idea to use your powers on a small scale, to familiarize yourself with them. That way, you won’t freeze if you save your own life with your powers again.”

The alarm was still beeping, so with the meditation session finished, Oliver and Anil moved to the computer. “What is going on?” Anil asked.  
“Daniel Brickwell, the man that the Pilgrim released this morning, was spotted entering a high school a few minutes ago. Police are already on their way, but they can’t do much against him,” Oliver answered as he geared up. He grabbed one of his quivers and made his way to his motorcycle. “Do you want to come with? I could use your help,” he offered.   
“I’ll sit this one out,” Anil reclined. “I’m … not yet ready for superhero work.”  
Oliver nodded understandingly. “On the desk, there is an earpiece, which you can use to contact me. If you want, you can monitor the situation from here.”  
“I think I can do that,” the kid said as he gathered his confidence. “Good luck, Red … I mean Green Arrow!”  
“Thanks, kid!” Oliver replied as he took off on his cycle. It would be only five minutes for him to arrive at the school, but a lot could happen in those five minutes. Take into account that he needed a few minutes to finish with the kid and gear up … Oliver didn’t want to think about the possibilities.  
When Oliver arrived at the school, the principal was talking with two officers, but quickly turned to the Emerald Archer upon seeing him. “Green Arrow, thank god you’re here!” he exclaimed.  
“What is going on?” Oliver asked. “I saw a notion of Daniel Brickwell entering the school.”  
The principal nodded. “He entered with three of his henchmen and grabbed one student, after which they fled with him in their car.”  
“Where did they leave to, and what is the license plate?”  
Luckily, a bystander had written it down, so Oliver drove off in the direction the principal pointed as Anil searched for the car on the surveillance cameras. It didn’t take him long. “Found ‘em! It is going east on the highway, I’ll keep you posted.”  
“Thanks, kid,” Oliver said through his earpiece, as he sped up his motorcycle. He zigzagged between the cars, that honked back for his driving style. After a few minutes, he saw the black car he was chasing. It was hard to miss, as its suspension had a hard time supporting Brick’s 358 lbs. “Gotcha,” Oliver smirked, but he celebrated too early. Two windows lowered, and Brick’s henchmen emptied their rifles at him. The cars behind the black one hit the brakes to dodge the bullets, but that wasn’t an option for him. He zigzagged again, now avoiding bullets rather than cars, as the black car accelerated.   
The magazines apparently were empty as the two henchmen climbed back into the car and pulled the windows up. Oliver could again catch up to them, but as he accelerated too, the black car hit multiple civilian cars and caused a major blockade between the Green Arrow and them. In a reflex, Oliver hit the brakes, and as the motorcycle balanced on his front wheel, he somersaulted from his cycle, nocked the anesthetic gas arrow on the bowstring, and fired it at Brick’s car whilst still flying through the air. As he landed on the hood of a stranded car, Oliver saw the arrow penetrating the rear window of Brick’s car. He took his motorcycle again and caught up with the black car, that slowly came to a stop. A quick look inside revealed the four men and the student knocked out by the gas.  
“I’ve got them,” he announced to Anil. “Good job, kid!”   
He opened the car and collared Brick, careful not to inhale any of the anesthetic gas. Then, he walked around the car and maneuvered the abducted student out of the car and moved him to the side of the road. Lastly, Oliver removed the black sack from the student’s head to give him some fresh air.  
He did not expect to see the face of a knocked out Anil Westermann.

Somewhere far away from the Green Arrow, the Pilgrim closed the portal that looked over the highway. People tend to never look up, and he gladly exploited that mistake. He had seen how the Green Arrow stopped Brickwell and found the student.   
It was, unfortunately, the wrong Anil Westermann Brick had kidnapped, that was clear. Brick told him the Green Arrow only worked with Black Canary and the Justice League, not with teenagers. Combine that information with the fact that the Green Arrow had met the Pilgrim’s target, and the Pilgrim knew the one the archer spoke to was the airbender.   
“Idiot,” he scoffed at the monstrous crimelord, “guy can’t even piece two and two together. Why in the worlds would I want an ordinary teenager?”  
He stuffed his mouth with chips as he evaluated his plan. Going after the kid apparently didn’t work. No, he needed another way to find him. How do you find someone who can literally dissolve into the air?  
Then an idea struck him. He opened a portal to his destroyed home dimension as he said to himself: “Let’s see where Super-woman keeps him imprisoned.”


	6. The Prisoner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver tries to get answers after the abduction of the kid's doppelganger.

_Third time’s the charm, they say_ , Oliver thought as he rode back to his house. But for the third time in a row, he rode back with numerous thoughts plaguing his mind. Oliver couldn’t help it. Anil sat behind him, and the sky had turned as red as Brick’s skin.  
Why for the love of God would Brick go after Anil? The crime lord probably wouldn’t have known he got the wrong one, but that didn’t matter. It was clear he was going after the same kid as the Pilgrim.  
But why? Brick wasn’t one to put himself in harm’s way for someone else. He would only do it if he gained something. So what could the Pilgrim possibly have offered for Brick’s help? It was unlikely that setting him free was enough.  
Oliver rode his bike into the garage, where the two of them were welcomed by the smell of a freshly baked lasagna. He hadn’t thought about dinner as he waited for the police to handle the highway situation, but luckily for him, Dinah had his back.  
“Thanks for cooking, hun,” he greeted her with a kiss as Anil went off to refresh himself. “It smells amazing.”  
“Thanks, Ollie,” she said as she kissed him back. “How did it go with Anil today?”  
Oliver gave Dinah a quick summary of what happened at his hide-out while they laid the table. He told her that the kid was anxious to use his powers, but that he did help with the abduction of the student. He deliberately left out the part that the abducted kid was Anil’s doppelganger. “But I encouraged him to practice with his powers on a small scale, in case he needs to protect himself again,” he finished, but as he looked at Dinah, he couldn’t see the approval he hoped to see. Instead, she looked contrarily at him. “Is something wrong?”  
“I … don’t know if we should keep this pace with Anil. I’m afraid that if we push him too hard, we will break him. And there is no telling what someone will do when they’re pushed to the edge,” Dinah warned him.  
“Then why did you say I should take him with me?” Oliver asked in disbelief.  
“Because he needs someone around him, and I was in no shape to stay with him after my nightshift.” Dinah realized how hypocrite she was. She may have been tired, but Oliver never learned how to deal with such issues. “I’m sorry Ollie, I didn’t mean to criticize you. I know you did what you could, and I wasn’t clear to you this morning when I said you should take him to your hide-out. From now on, we’re doing this together, okay?”  
"Alright, hun. Shall we start with the lasagna then?" Oliver joked.

The lasagna tasted as good as it smelled, but Oliver found it difficult to finish his plate. He sat down at the table across from Anil, and with the red tomato sauce running out of the lasagna, he had to think again at the abduction. It bugged him more than he would have thought that Brick was after the kid.  
“It was delicious, Dinah,” he said as he wiped the last bit of red sauce from his lips, “but if you excuse me, I have some things to figure out. I’ll be back in a few hours.”  
He didn’t wait for an answer as he went back to the garage and prepared to drive off. He put his helmet on when he heard the door swing open. It was Dinah. “Alright, Oliver, what are you not telling me?” she questioned him. “You seem off ever since you came back today.”  
“That obvious, huh?”  
“I’ve known you for quite a while, darling. I can read your body language to know something’s bugging you.”  
Damn, she is good. He wanted to sort it out before telling Dinah, but now it would be too late. Not to mention he would break his promise he made right before sinner. “It’s the kid,” Oliver confessed with a sigh. “The abduction I told you about? Daniel Brickwell kidnapped this kid’s doppelganger from his school, and I don’t know why. I guess he got the wrong one, but it doesn’t make sense. Brickwell would only do something if he benefited from it.”  
"Any idea what that could have been?"  
"No idea," Oliver confessed, "but that's why I'm going to interrogate him. Brickwell could be the smallest threat going after the kid, so we need to know who the Pilgrim can persuade into finding this kid."  
His wife nodded and opened the garage door. "Good luck, Ollie, and please be careful," she said.  
"You know me, right? What could possibly go wrong?" he asked optimistically.

Apparently, a lot. The warden let him talk with Brickwell, but that's where the problems started.  
When Oliver entered the room in uniform, Brickwell had already sat down and wasn't happy to see him. “Arrow,” he growled.  
“Brickwell,” Oliver greeted him politely as he stood in front of the crime lord. He knew better than sitting down opposite of him. Even handcuffed and collared, Brick was not someone to be underestimated. “to be fair, I didn’t expect to put you behind bars so soon. Did you miss it here?”  
“What. Do. You. Want?” Brick asked slowly. “Are you coming here to mock me?”  
“Why did you do it? Why kidnap a teenager?” Oliver cut to the chase. “It is not at all in line with your usual activities. And no less the same day you got out!”  
“Are you really this stupid, Arrow?” Brick honed, leaning back as much as his handcuffs let him.  
“So you help the Pilgrim,” Oliver stated. “He got you out, and you pay him back by capturing his target.”  
“See, it wasn’t that hard,” Brick said, obviously toying with him.  
“Then why,” Oliver asked as he leaned over the table, “did you take the doppelganger of the target? The Pilgrim must have told you he is from another dimension.”  
It remained silent for a moment. The man of stone looked around the room, restlessly moving his eyes like a prey watching out for a predator. However, his eyes did grow wide from surprise. He knew he had taken the wrong one. “I warn you, Arrow. Don’t try to save the kid, you won’t be able to. If you and your Justice League want to survive, find the kid and deliver him to that Pilgrim.”  
“We can handle him,” the Green Arrow stated.  
“No, you can’t,” Brickwell objected fiercely. “You may be a decent shot, but you can’t hit an enemy without knowing where he will be.”  
“He will have a strategy, and the strategy can be found.”  
“A maniac doesn’t follow a certain strategy. I’ve seen his eyes, Arrow, he’s crazy. You and me, we are on either side of the law, but act logically to achieve our goals. He … he’s something else. It isn’t his world, he doesn’t care. If he’s really desperate, he’ll destroy the earth, with everyone on it, to get to that kid.”  
Oliver believed the fear in Brick’s growling voice. He needed to take a proactive approach to stop the Pilgrim, but one question remained. “Why did you kidnap the wrong one?”  
“I want to survive that man’s onslaught. If that means sacrificing one person to deceive him, I’ll do it.”  
“You know you’ve given a full confession, right?” Oliver observed.  
“I can escape prison, but not return from the dea…” Brick quipped back, but couldn’t finish his sentence. He clenched his teeth together to conceal a scream of pain, but he ultimately gave in. His body shuddered wildly before it collapsed on the table. Oliver rushed over and barely saw a blue portal closing behind Brick’s back. Brick’s body laid motionlessly on the table as his red stone changed to regular human flesh. Oliver checked, but he felt no pulse.  
He slammed the alarm button at the wall to notify the warden of this sudden death. The warden entered with a loaded gun, but put that aside when he saw the Green Arrow with an unknown man. “What happened?”  
“The Pilgrim attacked Brickwell with this,” Oliver answered as he took a dart from the crime lord's back. “It looks like some sort of syringe, and it converted Brick’s skin to regular human flesh, killing him in the progress.” He took a moment to think this through. “This thing could kill any metahuman in one hit.”  
Oliver offered to take the dart over to the Watchtower as the warden dealt with the -now human- body. It would become a long night.

**The next day, somewhere on this earth**  
Ares cursed the Amazonians, in particular the daughter of Zeus. A female group of warriors who sought after peace. Pfwah! If only she had joined him, they would have ruled Olympus, and he wouldn’t be chained at the Caucasus mountains.  
Oh, how humiliated he felt. Chained by a girl on the place where the Titan Prometheus had been held captive. But if it weren’t bad enough, that damn eagle eats his liver every day too.  
The god of war sighed. He was powerless to escape. Only someone else could free him, but he was invisible to anyone who didn’t know he was there. He did not doubt that Amazon had kept her mouth shut.  
The sun had risen to its highest point, indicating the eagle was arriving. Ares looked to the east and saw the winged creature approaching him. But suddenly, it disappeared.  
“Sorry to make it this close, I only had just decided I needed you,” a man spoke. Ares was surprised, how could the man see him? Had the Amazon spoken about his prison?  
“I can free you, but you have to do something for me. Or do you want the eagle to return? I can literally do it in a snap,” the man toyed with the god.  
Ares thought about the offer. He could only escape if he agreed to the man’s wishes. Then after he was freed, he would easily squish that man and get his revenge at Wonder Woman. “What do you want?” Ares growled at the Pilgrim.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the delay! Two camps and the heat of the last two weeks didn't exactly help me with writing this chapter. I'll try to follow my original schedule, so the next chapter will (hopefully) be uploaded on the weekend of the 22nd of August.


End file.
